To expect a bag for a lot of clothes from Help the aged charity shop?

[jenwyn]

I felt like lamping the miserable old woman in the charity shop.

I bought several things and had quite a tidy pile of things on the counter. She took her time sorting the prices out and then messed around finding the card machine etc.

Im cool so stayed unruffled throughout.

At the end -the prices rung up on the till and the card taken she then told me

"No Bags"

I stared at the heap of clothes and wondered how I was going to get them home without a bag to carry them in. She simply shrugged.
It wasnt that there were only bags to buy -there were NO bags for customers who have bought a lot to carry their purchases away.
I would usually have spare one tucked away in my bag but as Im not perfect I used the last one and left it at home.

I have quite a large handbag and have no problem with carrying things like books or cards etc-even 2 litres of milk on occassion. But to expect me to have the capacity for 5 large items is just not on.
I have complained to head office -not that I think it will do any good.

It quite took the gloss of my bargain hunting

Well, as the purpose of charity shops is NOT your bargain hunting but rather the opportunity to donate to a good cause, yes, YABU. Charities' profit margins are very, very low, and even supplying cheap carrier bags would eat into those profits. I can see how it was annoying for you, but perhaps it will teach you to be a bit more perfect (your words, not mine )and to make sure you have a carrier bag with you next time! Or, you could have popped into another shop and asked them for a carrier bag - I'm sure they would have obliged.

Well, as the purpose of charity shops is NOT your bargain hunting but rather the opportunity to donate to a good cause, yes, YABU. Charities' profit margins are very, very low, and even supplying cheap carrier bags would eat into those profits. I can see how it was annoying for you, but perhaps it will teach you to be a bit more perfect (your words, not mine )and to make sure you have a carrier bag with you next time! Or, you could have popped into another shop and asked them for a carrier bag - I'm sure they would have obliged.

i think you are not unreasonable to expect to be either given or sold a bag in a shop

yes, they are a charity but they are a shop too. if you had bought a dinner set would they expect you to carry a spare newspaper to wrap it in?

Most shops I know have 2nd hand bags for customers, they ask you to provide one if you can and have old ones incase you can't, it is not too difficult is it?

I think she was unreasonable to react like that TBH, she could have told you she had none when you went to the counter so you could decide what to do about it!

the purpose of charity shops IS her bargain hunting. If she doesn't go bargain hunting there because of arsey attitude towards a 0.2p carrier bag they won't make any money!

I've walked out of M&S before because they want me to pay 5p for a carrier bag.

Shops have got no business being pious, in fact being pious might mean they've got no business. Customers won't put up with it. There are plenty of other places to shop.

Sainsburys now ask if you want a bag you don't get one by default, there's nothing to stop them having a few bags behind the counter.

Ecoloons really piss me off sometimes.

Well if they really do not want to provide a bag (second hand or not) they could have the guts to tell you BEFORE you buy half the shop!

YANBU

YANBU, they could give away manky used carriers if people were desperate or sell their own.
I bought a load of videos from Oxfam today and was a bit disconcerted by there not being any bags but I could have bought one at least. If you can't they're missing a trick.

I got really pissed off at Smith's the other when I had bought 35 quid's worth of books and they wanted £1 for a bag. Very sour I was.

Have to laugh at the purpose of charity shops as not being for bargain hunting and only as somewhere for people to donate if everyone donates and no-one buys their profit margins will be even slimmer !! Having said that some of my local charity shops have started taking the p**s when it comes to pricing things and i love going in on a market day just to hear the comments from the old dears as they browse the rails !!! I especially chuckle when they try to sell things for more than they would have been new ,ie the fleeces asda sells for £1.50 and they try to sell them second hand for £3 . As for the bag ,well i have to say im astounded they wouldnt even sell you one and as alot of stuff is donated by people in carriers ,im sure they must have had one kicking about somewhere ,it wasnt oxfam was it ,the staff in those seem to be a breed unto themselves ,or at least in my local ones.

No I didn't mean it that way bumpsoon - what I meant was, the main purpose of bagging ('scuse pun) a bargain is to donate money to the charity ... ah feck it, obviously YANBU as everyone here agrees with you, and btw I am not an ecoloon - I use plastic bags too! But I have first-hand experience of how charities operate, and I can't say I'm surprised at this lady's attitude. Don't forget, she's not being paid!

Well, I might get flamed for this but I have had a few odd experinces in Help The Aged shops recently (not any other charity shops, note, just HTA). I don't know if their staff training is particularly poor or if it's the type of people who volunteer or if it's just coincidence.

A couple of weeks ago I wanted to buy a bag but could not find the price tag. I asked the member of staff who looked at me, sighed theatrically and said "It'll be INSIDE the bag!". So not hot on customer service.

Another time I was browsing and the two members of staff were discussing a Chinese couple with a child who had just left. Their comments were incredibly rude. They criticised the child's behaviour (which was fine), said the parents had no control, moaned abouth them 'handling' stock and then - and this was the icing on the cake - one of them said "Well, what can you expect? They don't know how to go on in this country do they?".

I was going to write a letter to their head office. Might still do.

Soooo... no YANBU. Charity shops are ace but can be rather odd.

I love charity shops but the prices are getting a bit mad. Most of the stuff in my local ones is from Primark. Asking £5 for a £2. top is pushing it IMO.

Not all staff are volunteers although even the paid ones dont get paid an awful lot. Charity shops enjoy heft discounts when it comes to tax etc and this has caused some resentment amoungst hard pressed shop owners who dont get the same rebates. This has got worse since a lot of charity shops have started selling brand new 'fancy' goods.

Still love them though. We have on near me that I wont go in. It has a great big sign outside 'A charity shop for LOCAL people' Frankly they are welcome, its a stinky one.

I dont think its unreasonable to expect a bag even if you have to pay for it. Although I know its got a bit harder for charity shops since mainstream shops are not doling them out, less spares for people to donate.

ramble ramble ramble.......

I have gone off charity shops because the ones round here are so, well, sniffy about my donations. They root through the bags and ask me what I have brought in and do the toys have CE marks, and we don't take electrical stuff and are all the bits there....and I feel like taking it all down the tip instead!

I am watching BBC2 and feeling quite sorry for anyone who works in a charity shop. Also guiltily wondering about the contents of bin bags I have donated in the past.........

Weird...

They usually have a large stash of bags that donations were made in...

Maybe women behind counter was having a bad day?

chegirl - why, what was in the bin bags? Whats to feel sorry for?

lightshines mostly really good stuff as I used to be a compulsive buyer and then a compulsive cleaner outer. But after seeing the utter crap that charity shops get dumped on them dontated i am wondering if I shoved in any old tat that I thought 'oh they can always sell it to the rag man'.

One of the shops was having to pay about £50 a week in skip fees to get rid of the unsellable stuff they were given.